2024 General Election Kicks Off With Caucuses, Primaries: What To Know

ACROSS AMERICA — The Republican and to a lesser extent Democratic presidential nominating calendar kicks off in Iowa Monday and ends this summer with Republican and Democratic nominating conventions in Milwaukee and Chicago, respectively.

With Democratic President Joe Biden seeking a second term, the Republican primaries and caucuses are the more competitive of the contests. On the GOP side, former President Donald Trump is polling ahead of Republican rivals for the party’s nomination and a potential rematch of the 2020 presidential race on Election Day, which is Nov. 5.

Other Republicans still in the race are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and businessman and pastor Ryan Binkley.

Two other Democrats — U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and author Marianne Williamson — are challenging Biden. And political scion Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is running for president as an independent.

The GOP field is likely to dwindle after the first two tests, the Iowa Republican caucuses on Monday and the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23. The two states have fought for years to maintain their first-in-the-nation status, and will keep it on the Republican side again this year.

However, the Democratic National Committee stripped the two small states of their early status, moving South Carolina to the front of the calendar. New Hampshire ignored the calendar, setting its Democratic and Republican presidential primaries on the same day and potentially risking its delegates at the Democratic National Convention. The outcome of the once-important Iowa Democratic caucuses won’t be known until Super Tuesday on March 5, when more than a dozen other states are also holding primaries and caucuses.

By the end of March, more than half of each party’s delegates will have been selected. To win their parties’ nominations, candidates must secure at least 270 electoral votes.

Also On The Ballot In 2024

Also up in the regular election this year are 33 U.S. Senate seats — 10 held by Republicans, 20 by Democrats and three by independents who caucus with Democrats.

Additionally, two special Senate elections will be on the Nov. 5 ballot, One will fill the last two years of the six-year term of former Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, who was elected in 2020 and resigned last year to become the University of Florida president.

The other special election will fill the unexpired six-year term of California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, who was re-elected in 2018 and died last year. A special primary election to fill the seat will be held on March 5, and the special general election will be on Nov. 5.

Additionally, voters nationwide will elect 435 people to the U.S. House of Representatives, as they do every two years.

How Caucuses And Primaries Differ

The process to elect a president isn’t the same as for other partisan offices like U.S. senator or governor. The major political parties use a complex system to assign the delegates a presidential nominee needs to compete in November, with different methods at play in different states.

Some states have caucuses — private meetings run by the political parties held at the county, district or precinct level that can require a commitment of several hours.

In primary elections, which are usually run by the states, people can show up at any time on Election Day, or even prior to Election Day in early voting or via an absentee ballot.

In 20 states, at least one of the political parties has an open primary, which allows people to vote without declaring a party affiliation. In some cases, voters can declare an affiliation at the polls and caucus locations, even if they previously were registered with another party.

California, Nebraska and Washington have a top-two primary system in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. Alaska uses a variation, a top-four primary system, and Louisiana has a majority-vote system. Those types of primaries are often considered open primaries because voters don’t have to affiliate with a political party.

Presidential Preference Dates To Know

State primary elections to determine party nominees in gubernatorial and state races, federal and state legislative contests, and county and local races will be held at the same time as the presidential preference primaries in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, North Dakota, Texas, Mississippi, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.

Most contests are decided on a single day; however, some take place over several days or weeks. In the list below, the date listed is the one when the results are expected to be reported.

Jan. 15: Iowa Republican caucus

Jan. 23: New Hampshire Democratic and Republican primaries

Feb. 3: South Carolina Democratic primary

Feb. 6: Nevada Democratic primary

Feb. 8: Nevada Republican caucus; Virgin Islands Republican caucus

Feb. 24: South Carolina Republican primary

Feb. 27: Michigan Democratic and Republican primaries.

March 2: Idaho Republican caucus; Missouri Republican caucus

March 3: District of Columbia Republican primary

March 4: North Dakota Republican caucus

March 5 (Super Tuesday): Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia, Democratic and Republican primaries; American Samoa, Democratic and Republican caucuses; Alaska, Republican caucus; Iowa, Democratic caucus; and Utah, Democratic primary and Republican Caucus.

March 12: Democrats abroad and Northern Marian Democratic primaries; Hawaii, Republican caucus; and Georgia, Mississippi and Washington Democratic and Republican primaries.

March 15: Northern Mariana Republican caucus.

March 16: Guam Republican caucus.

March 19: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio Democratic and Republican primaries.

March 23: Louisiana Democratic and Republican primaries; Missouri Democratic primary.

April 2: Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin Democratic and Republican primaries.

April 6: Alaska, Hawaii and North Dakota Democratic primaries.

April 13: Wyoming Democratic caucus.

April 20: Wyoming Republican caucus.

April 21: Puerto Rico Republican primary.

April 23: Pennsylvania Democratic and Republican primaries.

April 28: Puerto Rico Democratic primary.

May 7: Indiana Democratic and Republican primaries.

May 14: Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia Democratic and Republican primaries.

May 21: Kentucky and Oregon Democratic and Republican primaries.

May 25: Idaho Democratic caucus.

June 4: District of Columbia Democratic caucus; Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota Democratic and Republican primaries.

June 8: Guam and Virgin Islands Democratic caucuses.

July 15-18: Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Aug. 19-22: Democratic National Convention in Chicago.